The Randal Report
The Randal Report where old friends Simon & Mel, beg to differ on just about everything, more often than not, over coffee and croissants and sometimes with guests for company. Rarely agreeable but always respectful. With nothing off limits, we aim to prod, provoke and entertain with our own inimitable, individual and sometimes disagreeable perspective on todays’ world. RSSVERIFY
Episodes
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
UK STRIKES, HARRY & MEGHAN.... CAN IT GET ANYMORE DEPRESSING! Part 1
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Tuesday Jan 17, 2023
Discussing the major topics in the news at the moment. That's News To Me!
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
WORLD CUP ’22 QATAR
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
Tuesday Dec 13, 2022
THE RANDAL REPORT Is Football Coming Home?
Now I readily confess that my knowledge and experience of football is rather limited! I have only been to one match and that was Leicester City, playing I don’t know who and it was around 1969, and Leicester City lost, which at the time was not unusual!
Indeed, my limited interest was more in the legs of the players and how short the shorts were, but we’ll leave that there!So, here we are again, with another World cup, with hopes for the England team, no doubt to be dashed at some point, as England needs a 1966 moment, now more than any time for decades, well at least weeks, now that the womens’ football team are acquiring trophies faster than you can say Qatar!
Our subject today is less about the game itself, the players and the teams, it’s more about where
the World Cup is being held this year! As Qatar is not renowned either for a good human rights record, particularly their attitude to the LGBTQ community, or for that matter its safety record concerning migrant construction workers. Indeed, since Qatar was announced as the host of this years’ world cup, some 6400 migrant construction workers have died!
James Cleverley suggested that LGBTQ supporters should amend their behavior whilst in Qatar, was this a constructive comment to make?
The penalty for gay sex is 7 years!
Should our team be going to the world cup, or should the supporters be boycotting? By going, are we simply endorsing a country which has repressive laws?
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Politics Across the Pond.
Friday Nov 25, 2022
Friday Nov 25, 2022
In today's episode of the Randal Report, we’re going to talk about US politics and how it looks from across the great pond! With the midterm elections more or less concluded, I noted that more than 16.7 billion dollars was spent in the pursuit of the result! In England there are limits on campaign expenditure, each candidate has a limit of around £8,700, that they can spend, which means that we’re talking a total of less than £5,550,00. So, seeing the sums of money spent in the US, it would seem an appalling waste, which could be put to better use.
Should there even be midterm elections, as surely it is not sufficient time to have elapsed from the previous election, for the policies of a new administration to take effect? Mel, help me make sense of this!There are often cries of foul in US elections, most notable, was of course
Donald Trump and the incursion on Capitol Hill in January 2021, lets just throw a few stats in here: US contested elections, 1800, 1824, 1860, 1876, 1912, 1948, 2000 (which of course was George W. Bush versus Al Gore) What does this say about American politics?Is it something about the American Psyche, a society built on the concept of winners and losers?Let's talk Donald Trump: With the majority of results now in, there was no Republican ‘Red Wave’ as many Republicans had forecast and seemingly, a lot of the Trump endorsed candidates failed to win the day. Of course, the latest being Kari Lake, in the race for Governor of Arizona. Now, Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for the 2024 elections,Trumpism isn’t yet dead but should have been drowned at birth in the first place?What were the reasons for what would seem like a poor showing, considering Biden has the lowest approval rating of any sitting President in history?Should the Republican party even countenance the idea of having Trump as their candidate, it would not seem sagacious on their part?Should there be an age limit on candidates for the Presidency? (After all, it isreckoned that Ronald Reagan was already suffering symptoms of dementia whilst in office).
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
DRUG LEGALISATION & DECRIMINALISATION S01 E29
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
Sunday Oct 23, 2022
What would happen if we decriminalized (or even legalized drugs?
Should Britain follow some other countries and change the law on the use of Cannabis?
Should it just be confined to laws on Cannabis or should all drug laws be changed!
Could this be the answer to resolving many of the worlds problems from broken economies to crime and more?
Quote Of The day:“In the sixties, people took drugs to make the world weird. Now the world is weird, people take prozac, to make it normal!”
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
LIZ TRUSS RESIGNS! S01 E30 SPECIAL
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
Saturday Oct 22, 2022
After a tumultuous week in British Politics, in a week from now, we’ll be getting our 4th PM in just five years! Indeed, yet another! In this political drama that makes the House Of Cards look lackluster, recent events can only be described as a clusterfuck, or Trussterfuck, with the British people paying for it, at every turn! The latest incarnation lasted just 45 days in office, which is a new record!It was no surprise to us that Truss wasn’t up to the challenge, what I can’t grapple with is how on earth the Tory party membership were deluded enough to think she would make a success of her premiership, as it seems now, they were the only ones who thought she would.She became so beleaguered, so quickly, one newspaper earlier this week, put up a lettuce,
notorious for a short shelf life, in a ruse to see which would last longer, the lettuce won and seemingly, had more capability!
Truss is entitled, although arguable, to a payout of over £100,000 for her 44 days in office, 10 of which, were spent doing bugger all, whilst the country mourned the passing of the Queen. Should she really be paid this money?
There is no mandate now for this government to continue, yet they cling onto their fading power, rather than looking at the greater need of our country! Our nations institutions, the economy and our standing on the global stage, are all in tatters, because of gross incompetence and arrogance! Now, as the political situation has descended into farce, some within the Conservative ranks want to reincarnate Boris Johnson’s political career, a concept of pure and dangerous delusion!
Now there’s rumor of a possible delay of the fiscal statement that Jeremy Hunt, the latest chancellor, was due to deliver at the end of October.
Can Britain survive? Can we recover our koudos, can we earn back the respect that has been destroyed by the last two PM’s, or arguably all of those who have occupied number 10 Downing Street, since 2010?
As before, the procession of wannabees has begun, in a new contest, for yet another new leader and still not one worthy of attention, we suspect! Candidates, of which I wager there will be many, have to have a minimum 100 MP’s backing them by Monday, in order to go forward to a second round! Has the party become so factionalised that it will find it nigh impossible to coalesce around one candidate, or are we witnessing the destruction of a political institution?
Will any of them receive the backing of one hundred MP’s, which of course, will speak volumes as to the future of the party!
Quote Of the week: Is directed at Tory MP’s, ministers and the like: JFK“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country?”
And of course I have the answer, please step aside, whilst we still have a country left!
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
LIZ TRUSS : BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD E01 E27
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Thursday Oct 20, 2022
Today, we discuss the continuing trials and tribulations of one Liz Truss as she desperately clings on to the floating log, that is the remainder of her political career!
Hunt’s summary to rescue Britain from the abyss, No cut in basic rate of income tax. Looks like a withdrawal of the unit cap on energy, i.e. no longer capped at £2,500. Truss has pedaled this policy as her centerpiece since winning the leadership.
What now for a political party that after twelve years in government, four different PM’s and at least six chancellors? With their support melting away, disastrous opinion polls, still refusing to accept that it is they that are destroying the credibility of UK PLC, when will they do the decent thing and call an election?
Will the British public forgive them and how long do they risk being in the political wilderness?
Former Bank of England Deputy Governor, Sir Charles Bean, says “It is disingenuous to say the UK’s economic issues are down to a global phenomenon” After everything that has taken place over the last two weeks, isn’t it about time that this government owns up to the charge of economic mis-management?
Truss’s mantra of growth, growth, growth, should now be replaced with “cut, cut, cut!
What now for a government, who’s manifesto, which delivered their last election victory, promising 50,000 more nurses, 20,000 more Police Officers and 50,000,000 more GP appointments, when the latest incarnation at number 11 Downing Street, is Jeremy Hunt, who’s talking more cuts? Where’s the mandate for this?
Sunday Oct 16, 2022
A NEW NORMAL : THE UK PROPERTY MARKET
Sunday Oct 16, 2022
Sunday Oct 16, 2022
With the bank of England preparing for the possibility of a drop in UK property prices by up to a third, what now for the UK housing market and is this an issue confined only to the UK?
What does the future hold for a property market that has been in a bubble for some 10 years?
Is the current economic situation just a reflection of the actions of government and central banks over the last 14 years?
Current average two year fixed rate mortgage is 6.3%, double what it was a month ago!
Is this just a necessary re-balancing of the global economy as interest rates find a new norm?
Between Mel and I, there is nearly four decades of professional experience in property, perfect for today’s main topic of discussion! So, Mel, what are your thoughts, firstly on the issue of a sizeable drop in property prices, even a potential crash?
Quote of the day
“Under Captalism, man exploits man, under Communism, it’s just the opposite!”
Friday Oct 14, 2022
THAT’S NEWS TO ME V
Friday Oct 14, 2022
Friday Oct 14, 2022
1. Will the lights go out this winter? Why has it come to this?How will people cope and what of Britains ‘Blitz spirit?
2. The death of Mahsa Amina last month in Iran a 27 year old, who allegedly beaten to death after being detained by Tehran’s morality Police, accused of breaking the hijab dress code, has since resulted in mass protest, with over 185 having died as a consequence, what does this mean for the regime of Iran?
3. Covid on the rise again, as the weather gets colder! What care to take?
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
You Can’t Re-Invent The Wheel !
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
Tuesday Oct 11, 2022
Just a few weeks into her premiership, Liz Truss, is already floundering on the political rocks, with talk amongst some Tories of trying to change the rules on leadership challenges, so they can trash the Truss and start again, I might add, yet again! The mini budget presented by the new chancellor rewarded the richest 1% with a tax cut, and along with reversing the NHI increase, introduced only a few months ago by the previous chancellor, Rishi Sunak and a number of other policies, which were to be funded by increased government borrowing, forcing an intervention by the BOE, to steady the financial markets as Britain PLC’s financial viability was called into serious question!
A large swathe of Tory backbenchers might rebel, has there been the first major u-turn of Truss’s premiership, with Truss, throwing the chancellor under the bus, claiming this policy had nothing to do with her, yeh right and in turn, desperately looking for some minion to blame for such a catastrophically stupid idea, the attention now turns to Chris Philp, Chief Secretary to the Treasury blamed for the idea to abolish the top rate of tax, which of course, he denies!
The government says households will save £400 per year as a consequence of the cut in the basic rate of tax, but of course, due to their utter clumsiness, it means foreign holidays will cost more, food will cost more, just about everything will cost more...
The chancellors’ speech at the Conservative party conference was very lack - lustre’ on Monday, daring not to table any new policies, as he hasn’t really got any that are safe to voice!
Should the chancellor resign immediately?
There’s also the accusation that number 10 banned King Charles from attending the COP 27 climate change summit in Egypt, which is denied, of course, by one of her cabinet ministers!
What do you make of the news that the UK is facing a shortage in the supply of gas this winter?
Liz Truss, says she’s not bothered about being popular, well you can rest assured Miss Trust, that you have indeed succeeded in that!
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
THAT’S NEWS TO ME IV
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
Saturday Oct 08, 2022
That’s news to me, where Mel and I will take three stories that have been currently or recently featuring in the news and in ten minutes or less, add our take on the finer points, yep, just ten minutes or less!
A Little About Us
We met back in 2004 as employees of a Real Estate company in London’s East end, although working together briefly we struck up a lasting friendship. We’ve maintained contact ever since and particularly over the last few years, the meet ups over coffee and croissants became evermore regular and lengthy, as neither of us struggle for conversation.
Separated by twenty years, our individual perspective is often vastly different, but where we have diverging opinions, we’re able to disagree, but maintain the intrinsic respect we’ve always had for each other. We’ve wanted to work together again for some considerable time and ‘The Randal Report’ is the culmination; bringing together the spiritual, intellectual and entrepreneurial abilities that define Mel’s character, my creative experience and ability for endless chatter, as I once described myself as being like a vintage wine, easy on the nose, palatable, but if consumed in excess, liable to give you a thumping headache!